Contents

History

Early history

In the place the Burrow came to stand, once stood a little Tudor building with a large stone pigpen on the side. It's unknown what happened to the building, but after Arthur and Molly Weasley's marriage, the family settled in the pigpen. As the family grew over the birth of their children, the couple started building upward with add-on bits of architectural salvage they picked up wherever they could find.[1] By the 1990s, the house was several stories high, with four or five chimneys on the roof, with all the appearance of being held up by magical means.[2]

The Weasley family home

The Weasleys had presumably been in residence at the Burrow for a long time, since at least 1970.[3] The Burrow had been the home to the nine Weasleys, although their numbers had thinned over the years as the children grew up and moved out. Despite being poor, none of the Weasleys seemed ashamed of their home, and it had a comfortable, relaxed atmosphere. It was a welcoming place, and friends of the family were regular visitors. The Burrow was described in 1992 as being as "different as possible from life on Privet Drive".[4][5][6]

In the summer of 1992, Harry Potter first visited the Burrow when he was rescued from 4 Privet Drive by Ron, Fred and George. He stayed with them throughout the summer, and came to regard the Burrow as his second home after Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. During this time, Arthur and Molly Weasley came to look upon Harry as part of their family, and made sure he was always welcome.[7]

In the summer of 1994, the Burrow was alive with activity as the entire family was back under one roof since Bill had moved out to work in Egypt. The Burrow was further crowded with the addition of Harry Potter and Hermione Granger, and the entire household, with the exception of Molly, attended the Quidditch World Cup final.[8]

In July of 1997, the Burrow was used as the rendezvous location for the Order task force assigned to escort Harry Potter to safety from 4 Privet Drive several days before his seventeenth birthday. Because of the need to protect Harry, the Burrow was defended by numerous protective spells in the hopes that they would be enough to keep Harry and the Weasleys safe from Voldemort and his followers. Following the Battle of the Seven Potters, the Burrow became a sombre place due to the disfiguring injury to George Weasley (lost an ear), and the news that Alastor Moody had been killed by Lord Voldemort.[6]

Wedding

"Harry had never seen the place looking so tidy. The rusty cauldrons and old Wellington boots that usually littered the steps by the back door were gone, replaced by two new Flutterby bushes standing either side of the door in large pots; though there was no breeze, the leaves waved lazily, giving an attractive rippling effect. The chickens had been shut away, the yard had been swept, and the nearby garden had been pruned, plucked, and generally spruced up...."

However, the wedding of Bill to Fleur Delacour was scheduled to take place at the Burrow, and the house underwent a thorough cleaning in preparation for the big event. Molly used the cleaning of the house as an excuse to stop Harry Potter, Ron, and Hermione Granger from planning to hunt down Voldemort's Horcruxes in an effort to stop them from embarking on their dangerous quest. However, her attempts were only partially successful.[6] Despite the hectic wedding preparations, on 31 July, the Burrow played host to Harry's seventeenth birthday party. However, the party was interrupted by the arrival of Minister for MagicRufus Scrimgeour, who had arrived to disclose the contents of Albus Dumbledore's will to Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Each received an item that would eventually help them in their mission to defeat Lord Voldemort and destroy his Horcruxes.[6]

The day after Harry's birthday, on 1 August, the Burrow held the wedding of Bill and Fleur. Most of the extended Weasley family were present, as well as Order members, friends, and the Delacour family. Harry attended the wedding in disguise by using Polyjuice Potion to resemble a red-headed Muggle teenager from Ottery St Catchpole. During the reception, the wedding was disrupted when Kingsley Shacklebolt's Patronus arrived and warned the assembled guests that Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters had taken control of the Ministry of Magic, and were heading for the Burrow. With the full strength of the Ministry behind them, the Death Eaters broke the protective enchantments protecting the Burrow and apparated into the reception. Guests had already started to flee the scene due to Kingsley's warning, including the Death Eaters' primary target, Harry Potter, along with his friends Hermione and Ron. The Ministry, aware of the Weasleys' ties to Harry, questioned the family and any remaining guests before releasing them.[6]

Abandonment

During the Easter holidays in 1998, the Weasleys were forced to abandon the Burrow when the Death Eaters finally discovered that Ron was assisting Harry after they were incarcerated at Malfoy Manor. Ron, with the assistance of Fred, George, and his father, had disguised the family ghoul as himself sick with Spattergroit to explain his absence from school. However, he was recognised when he, Harry, and Hermione were captured by Snatchers and brought to Malfoy Manor. The Weasleys had already been under suspicion as "blood traitors" with ties to the Order, but were now known to be actively supporting Lord Voldemort's enemies. Fearing reprisals from Voldemort and his Death Eaters, the Weasleys stayed at the home of Aunt Muriel and at Shell Cottage, which they protected with a Fidelius Charm.[6] It is unknown if the Weasley's returned to the Burrow after the war, or if the Death Eaters destroyed it.

Layout

The Burrow was located on the outskirts of Ottery St Catchpole, a small village located in Devon, England.[7] It was so well hidden that Molly Weasley doubted that the postman even knew it existed. Nestled amongst rolling hills and fertile meadows, other wizarding families in the area included the Diggorys, the Lovegoods and the Fawcetts.[8] The building itself might once have been an old stone pigpen, which had several crooked stories attached to it. Four or five chimneys dotted the roof of the house, and the entire building was most likely held up by magic due to its crazy construction.[7]

Exterior

"It looked as though it had once been a large stone pigpen, but extra rooms had been added here and there until it was several stories high and so crooked it looked as though it were held up by magic (which, Harry reminded himself, it probably was). Four or five chimneys were perched on top of the red roof. A lopsided sign stuck in the ground near the entrance read, THE BURROW."

Arthur Weasley's Flying Ford Anglia comes in for a landing at the Burrow

The Burrow had a small yard at the front of the house, with a garage that stored Arthur Weasley's flying Ford Anglia and Muggle artefacts, and a chicken coop that housed the family's chickens. A sign in the ground read "The Burrow" by the main entrance.[7]

The back garden contained a stone outhouse that the Weasleys had converted into a broom shed, and the Weasley children keep their broomsticks in the building during their time at home. When she was six, Ginny Weasley began a regular habit of breaking into the broom shed and taking each broom out in turn since her elder brothers wouldn't allow her to play Quidditch with them.[4] In the summer of 1996, Albus Dumbledore and Harry Potter had a conversation in the broom shed prior to announcing their arrival at the Burrow.[5]

Behind the main house was a large, overgrown garden with a pond full of frogs. The garden was home to a large number of gnomes; the Weasleys had to regularly de-gnome the garden by throwing them over the hedge.

The Weasleys' garden

However, the gnomes always sneaked back in since Arthur Weasley was soft on them and thought they were funny. The entrance to the kitchen backed onto the garden, and was surrounded by rusted cauldrons and old wellington boots.[7] The garden was often used by the Weasleys to hold large family gatherings, such as when the entire family, including Harry Potter and Hermione Granger, stayed at the Burrow prior to the Quidditch World Cup final in 1994[8], or Harry's seventeenth birthday party in 1997.[6] Prior to the wedding of Bill Weasley and Fleur Delacour, the garden was tidied up, and new Flutterby bushes were planted at the door to the kitchen to replace the cauldrons and wellies.[6] The garden was surrounded by a fence while the yard appeared to be walled off.

The Weasleys also owned an orchard behind their garden, which was surrounded by high trees. The orchard was contained within a paddock. The Weasley children used the orchard to practise Quidditch during their school holidays.[7][8] The orchard was used in 1997 to host the wedding of Bill Weasley and Fleur Delacour. A large white marquee was erected, and the ceremony and the reception took place inside.[6] A cornfield was located just outside the Burrow to the right of the property. Small ponds and swamps were found within this cornfield.[9] To the left of the main property were hills and fields that surrounded the Weasleys' garden and orchard. The Burrow could be exited by moving down a long lane that moved out towards the village of Ottery St Catchpole.[10]

Interior

The interior of the Burrow was cosy and lived in, with a jumbled and cluttered array of furniture and trappings.[7] In the summer of 1997, the entire house underwent a massive cleaning and reordering in preparation for the wedding of Bill Weasley and Fleur Delacour.[6]

Ground floor

Kitchen

"The clock on the wall opposite him had only one hand and no numbers at all. Written around the edge were things like Time to make tea, Time to feed the chickens, and You're late. Books were stacked three deep on the mantelpiece, books with titles like Charm Your Own Cheese, Enchantment in Baking, and One Minute Feasts — It's Magic! And unless Harry's ears were deceiving him, the old radio next to the sink had just announced that coming up was Witching Hour, with the popular singing sorceress, Celestina Warbeck."

The kitchen of the Burrow was the social centre of the Weasley family. Located at the back of the house, it was accessible from the garden. The kitchen contains a large wooden table with room enough for eight chairs. All of the furniture in the kitchen was salvaged from the home of a pop star[11] In the summers of 1994 and 1997, due to the large number of house guests, the kitchen table could not seat enough people, so meals were eaten outside at a table instead.

Different angle of the kitchen

There was a large fireplace in the room which also operated as the Weasleys' connection to the Floo Network, and a clock with one hand that points to various times such as "You're late" or "Time to feed the chickens". There was also several magical cookbooks located in the kitchen, stacked on top of the mantelpiece. The kitchen opened out on the front yard, through the front door and opened up on the back garden, through the back door. A perch for the family owl Errol was located outside one of the kitchen windows. The kitchen was entered by walking up some small steps from the front yard.[5][6][7][8] The dishwashing was often done by magic.[12]

Scullery

The scullery was located just off the kitchen. It was described as a tiny room with a mangle in it. This room was generally used by Molly Weasley when washing clothes.[8]

Living room

"Harry recognised it at once: It had nine hands, each inscribed with the name of a family member, and usually hung on the Weasleys' sitting room wall, though its current position suggested that Mrs Weasley had taken to carrying it around the house with her. Every single one of its nine hands was now pointing at "mortal peril"."

The living room of the Weasley home was a cosy room, with a sofa and armchairs. There was a large fireplace, a wooden wireless set, and a clock that, rather than telling the time, indicated the status of each member of the Weasley family. Instead of numbers, there were various phrases such as "home," "school," "work," "travelling," "lost," "dentist," "hospital," "prison," and "mortal peril". Instead of arms to tell the time, there were nine hands, one for each member of the family. With Lord Voldemort's return, the hands constantly pointed to "mortal peril". Molly Weasley got into the habit of carrying the clock around the house with her during this dark time, as she constantly worried about her family.[5][8]

Bedrooms

The Burrow had at least six bedrooms. Arthur and Molly slept in the master bedroom, while their children generally had bedrooms that often ended up shared either with each other or with guests. Their room was only a short walk away from Ron's room[7]. It was suspected that two or three of the six bedrooms housed a fireplace as Harry noticed that the Weasleys had "four or five chimneys", two of which were located downstairs.[7]

"It was small, but bright. There was a large poster of the Wizarding band the Weird Sisters on one wall, and a picture of Gwenog Jones, Captain of the all-witch Quidditch team the Holyhead Harpies, on the other. A desk stood facing the open window, which looked out over the orchard... The golden flag on top was level with Ginny's window."

"Though a large vase of flowers had been placed on a desk in front of the small window, their perfume could not disguise the lingering smell of what Harry thought was gunpowder. A considerable amount of floor space was devoted to a vast number of unmarked, sealed cardboard boxes, amongst which stood Harry's school trunk. The room looked as though it was being used as a temporary warehouse."

—Fred and Geore's second floor room after the twins had moved out of the Burrow[src]

On the second floor,[14]Fred and George shared a room, and explosions from it were considered perfectly normal.[7] When Harry stayed at the Burrow for several weeks in the summer of 1996, he slept in Fred and George's bedroom. At the time it was filled with sealed cardboard boxes, something of a warehouse for Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. The room also had a wardrobe, a desk, and a bedside table with a lamp, along with a number of Fred and George's products lying around. The two frequently conducted experiments there; as a result, the bedroom continued to smell like gunpowder even after they moved out. They did so in 1996 to live in a flat above their joke shop in Diagon Alley, but still used the room as a storage area. The twins stayed in it once more during the Christmas holidays of 1996, and shared with Bill as well.[5]

Also on the second floor, and overlooked the garden.[8] Percy shared a floor with Fred and George despite the fact that the constant explosions coming from the twins room would have greatly annoyed Percy, who valued peace and quiet.[7] Percy abandoned his room in the summer of 1995.[4] It was since shared by Fleur and Gabrielle prior to the former's wedding.[6]

Bill had his own room, and moved back into it when he returned to the country in the summer of 1995 to assist the Order of the Phoenix.[4] Bill spent Christmas at the Burrow in 1996, but he bunked with Fred and George, as Remus Lupin was also a guest and he stayed in Bill's old room.[5]

"It was like walking into a furnace: Nearly everything in Ron's room seemed to be a violent shade of orange: the bedspread, the walls, even the ceiling. Then Harry realised that Ron had covered nearly every inch of the shabby wallpaper with posters of the same seven witches and wizards, all wearing bright orange robes, carrying broomsticks, and waving energetically."

Ron had a small room at the top of the house beneath the attic. His room was decorated with posters of the Chudley Cannons, and was often shared with Harry Potter during his stays at the house.[5][6][7] The walls of his room were also bright orange. The ghoul spent some time in Ron's room during the Horcrux hunt. It was often referred to as the "attic room" although it was located just below the attic.[6]

Attic

Located at the very top of the house was the attic. A small hatch in the ceiling outside Ron's room opened to reveal a ladder that allowed access to the attic. The attic was a dark, musty place where the Weasley family ghoul lived. The ghoul was considered more of a pet than a pest by the family, and it took to loudly banging the pipes when it felt that things were too quiet in the Burrow.[6][7]

There is some confusion about the number of bedrooms in the Burrow, since it is never clear where Charles Weasley's original bedroom would have been, though it is possible that he shared a room with Bill. Furthermore, during the Christmas holidays of 1996, Molly Weasley listed where everyone would be staying: Fred and George, and Bill in the twins' room, Remus Lupin in Bill's room, Harry Potter and Ron in Ron's room, Ginny and Fleur Delacour in Ginny's room, and presumably Molly and Arthur in their master bedroom. There is no mention of Percy's bedroom, despite Fred asking if he was coming home directly after Molly lists the sleeping arrangements and her concern about crowding.[16] It is possible that Molly left Percy's bedroom empty, hoping that he would return for the holidays.

In the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets the set of the Burrow was built near Grey's Wood on the outskirts of the village of Wheathampstead, Hertfordshire. Rupert Grint's current house is 4km as the crow flies from the set of his character's (Ron Weasley's) house. In all future film appearances of The Burrow the set was built at near by Leavesden Studios in Watford, Hertfordshire.